The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 96

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 96. Overheating (1)
After my secret journey(?) with Elisha came to an end.
With suspension still ongoing and time to spare, I threw myself into mastering the new technique I’d recently learned: Ash Fire.
Perhaps because it was a new technique I hadn’t practiced in so long.
After training day and night in an almost ascetic state, I finally succeeded in wreathing both my blade and fists in Ash Fire.
Of course, since Ash Fire itself was a technique that placed tremendous strain on my vital energy, my entire body’s meridians were left tattered, but I could resolve that with Resurrection’s Blessing.
So when I was immersed in training, repeating death and resurrection from the early dawn.
Beep.
[Access confirmed for Candidates Yuren Helios and Berald Ryu.]
Yuren and Berald entered the Training Ground after class.
“Ah, Dale. You were already here.”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm. Brother, you’ve been here since this morning, haven’t you? No matter how important training is, excess in anything ruins the body, so it’s best to do things in moderation.”
Berald stroked his chin with a worried expression.
Even though he wasn’t from the main family, Berald was still a member of the Ryu clan and had his own Private Training Ground, but ever since we’d formed a Party together and gone on a Ruins exploration last time, he’d been frequently visiting Yuren’s Private Training Ground to train together.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
I laughed lightly and waved my hand.
There was an old saying in the Republic about excess being harmful, but at least it didn’t apply to me.
‘The one who taught me that in my past life was this bastard Berald.’
A memory from my past life suddenly surfaced.
-Brother, are you suffering greatly?
-Gasp! Gasp! I, I’m dying…. R, really dying!
-Hahaha! Don’t worry, Brother!
-O, okay then, shall we stop here for today?
-If you’re dying from exhaustion, just die and come back to life, then do it again!
-You crazy bastard.
-Come now! The legendary Immortal shouldn’t be complaining like this! Get up again!
-Aaaaah! S, stop! Krraaaagh!
Hmm.
Thinking about it again, it pisses me off.
What? You’re telling me excess ruins the body, so do things in moderation?
Who are you to say that?
“Why, why are you looking at me like you’re about to tear someone apart? Did I misspeak?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I approached Berald with a bright smile.
“By the way, today’s our sparring day, right?”
“W, well yes, but….”
“Hahaha.”
“Perhaps today we should just do individual training….”
“Where are you going?”
I turned around and grabbed Berald’s shoulder.
“Come on, we’re wasting time. Go change into your training clothes and get back here.”
“Ugh. Understood.”
“Oh, it’s fine if they get torn up.”
“Wait! Why are you suddenly doing this to me, hyung!”
I shoved the pouting Berald toward the Changing Room.
As I grinned in anticipation of the revenge(?) session to come shortly.
“Dale, are you really okay?”
“Hm?”
Yuren approached me cautiously.
“You look incredibly exhausted.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. You have dark circles and your face looks gaunt.”
Yuren gently caressed my cheek with a worried expression.
‘Ugh, this is creepy coming from Yuren’s appearance.’
It would be different if this were Yurina’s form.
Having a blonde handsome man gaze at me with those profound eyes while stroking my cheek wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.
“I’m fine, really.”
“Still, looking at your Training Ground access times lately, it seems like you’re there almost all day. Are you actually getting proper sleep?”
“That’s….”
To be honest, I hadn’t slept more than two hours a day over the past few days.
“I’m getting enough sleep, so don’t worry.”
“That’s a lie. Your exit log yesterday showed 3 AM?”
Just as Yuren was about to continue the interrogation with narrowed eyes.
“Hyung! I’ve finished changing!”
Berald emerged from the Changing Room in his training clothes.
I quickly moved toward Berald.
“Good. Shall we get started then?”
“Heh heh. I won’t lose so pathetically this time!”
Berald clenched both fists and shouted with vigor.
I nodded with a slight smirk and stood before him.
“Sigh. You’re really incorrigible….”
Yuren sighed and walked toward the Training Ground wall.
“Then I’ll start the countdown.”
As I touched the magical device on the wall, numbers materialized in the air.
[5 seconds until match begins.]
“Huu.”
Berald took a deep breath.
His entire body’s muscles swelled taut as his stigma blazed with light.
[4 seconds.]
I clenched both fists tightly.
[3 seconds.]
I pulled my waist back in an extended motion, lowering my stance.
[2 seconds.]
My gaze remained fixed directly on my opponent.
[1 second.]
I stomped my feet and charged forward!
Boom!
“Hyaaaah!”
A resonant battle cry echoed across the vast Training Ground.
Berald’s fist, brimming with a deep earthen aura that evoked the boundless expanse of the land itself, tore through the air with savage force.
Crack!
I deflected Berald’s ferocious punch upward with my palm, then swept my leg low to target his knees.
Berald martial arts.
Falling Leaf Sweep.
A threatening kick aimed at the vulnerable lower opening.
“I won’t fall for the same technique twice!”
He must have remembered how I’d swept his legs in our last sparring match, sending him rolling hard across the ground.
Berald anticipated it, stomping his feet roughly before launching himself high into the air.
Suspended in mid-air, Berald interlaced his hands and brought them down like a sledgehammer.
Whoooosh!
A fist containing such devastating power that it could crumple steel like paper aimed straight for my head.
“Ho.”
My eyes gleamed as I twisted my body slightly to evade the punch.
I drove inward and thrust my knee upward.
Thud!
My sharply raised knee drove toward Berald’s solar plexus.
“Ugh!”
Just before his solar plexus took the hit, Berald withdrew his descending fist and used his thick forearm as a shield to protect his vital point.
“Your movements have improved significantly.”
I let out a short exclamation of admiration at Berald’s fluid and natural exchange of offense and defense.
I’d thought he’d grown considerably during our last Ruins exploration, but now he’d progressed to a level that made such comparisons almost embarrassing.
‘Is this how Elisha felt when she watched me?’
His growth rate was beyond surprising—it bordered on awe-inspiring.
“Heh. Do you think I’ve been getting pummeled by you all this time for nothing? Now I can see through your movements clearly.”
“Is that so?”
I asked with a slight chuckle, and Berald’s lips curled into a grin.
“This time, I’ll try using the technique you taught me!”
Berald clenched his fists and pulled his arms back like drawing a bowstring.
“Hyaaaaaaah!”
Berald stomped his feet with a rough battle cry.
Earthen aura gathered at his fists, radiating formidable magical power throughout the surroundings.
“Mountain Breaker!!!”
Whoosh!
Berald drove his fist forward with a harsh pivot, his movements sharp and deliberate.
The air around us tore violently, and a deafening roar echoed across the Training Ground.
‘His movements are crystal clear to me.’
In the past, I would never have dared to meet such an attack head-on.
‘But not anymore.’
Whoosh!
Ashen flames blazed around my fist.
I threw myself forward toward his fist, which carried terrifying celestial power.
“Wha—?!”
Berald’s eyes widened in shock.
I twisted my lips into a smirk and threw my own fist to meet his incoming strike.
‘Mountain Breaker.’
Boom!
Fist collided with fist.
The blazing ashen flames consumed Berald’s earthen aura and sent him flying backward violently.
“Cough!”
Crash!
Berald’s massive two-meter frame was flung like a pebble, slamming hard into the Training Ground wall.
Screech!
[Warning.]
[An abnormality has occurred in the impact mitigation barrier. Please cease the match.]
An alarm sounded as red light flashed throughout the Training Ground.
“Still think my movements are clear?”
“Ugh… I… I’m sorry, brother…”
Berald collapsed weakly to the ground, his head hanging low.
The impact must have been quite severe.
Saliva dripped from between Berald’s lips as his head remained bowed.
‘Did I hit him too hard?’
A moment of sympathy flickered through me, but as I recalled Berald’s past misdeeds, that fleeting compassion vanished entirely.
“Dale, that was…”
Yuren, who had been watching the match, stared at me with wide, astonished eyes.
I turned to Yuren and shrugged.
“What do you think? Does this suit me better now?”
“Wait… did you change your combat style because of what I said before?”
“It’s less about changing my style and more about gaining enlightenment. I have you to thank for it, Yuri—I mean, Yuren. Thank you.”
“Enlightenment… because of me… ehehe, hehehehe.”
Yuren’s face flushed crimson, his expression turning sheepish.
“So then… did you also obtain that uniquely colored aura thanks to your enlightenment?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“R-really?”
Yuren bounced on his heels, both fists clenched tight, unable to contain his joy.
I stifled a laugh and asked.
“Since you gained enlightenment, is there anything you need?”
“Huh? Something I need?”
“Yeah. It feels wrong to just accept it empty-handed.”
Without Yuren’s guidance, I likely would never have grasped ‘Cinder Flame.’
“I don’t really need anything… wait.”
Yuren, who had been about to decline with a shake of his head, suddenly froze mid-motion.
“Then… c-could you praise me?”
“…Praise you?”
“Y-yeah! While patting my head!”
Yuren’s eyes sparkled as he nodded eagerly.
I regarded him with an expression of disbelief, yet Yuren’s gaze remained utterly earnest.
“Sigh. Well, if that’s what satisfies you.”
I exhaled and placed my hand on Yuren’s head.
Pat, pat.
As I stroked his hair (which wasn’t easy given Yuren’s form), I opened my mouth.
“You did well, Yuren.”
“…Yurina.”
“Hm?”
“Call me Yurina.”
“…But.”
When I glanced to the side, Berald was sprawled unconscious, drool trickling from his mouth.
I sighed and nodded.
“You did well, Yurina.”
“…Yes!”
Yuren—no, Yurina—beamed with a radiant smile and nodded.
I suppressed a hollow laugh and withdrew my hand from Yurina’s head.
“Ah….”
Yurina let out a wistful sigh.
Thinking I’d removed my hand too quickly, I was about to place it back on Yurina’s head when.
“…Eh?”
I staggered.
My vision inverted.
Boom!
The hard Training Ground floor suddenly rose up and struck my cheek.
No.
The Training Ground floor hadn’t risen up.
‘I… collapsed?’
Through the haze of confusion, I heard Yurina’s cry.
“Dale! Why—why are you like this?! Are you okay? Dale!!!”
“I’m… fine…”
Before I could finish my words.
A sensation like sinking into a bottomless abyss washed over me, and my consciousness flickered to black.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————